Le Train Capital, in Paris

The famous Parisian boulevard Champs-Elysees has been this year, for almost a month, the scene of a special and unique show for a capital of the world.

Starting with May 17, the current year and up to June 15, on Chmaps- Elysees took place an event with railway feature, suggestively named Le Train Capital, which wanted to make a review of the history of the railway from the beginnings and up to the present time.
More than 30 exhibits have witnessed the evolutions of the railway transport; the nostalgia trains, leased from the museums, which attest the history of 150 years of this mode of transportation, today trains, modern and performant, and other products that foreshadow the technical and commercial innovations of tomorrow. There have been arranged 24 shop-windows, suggestively named the shop-windows of the future, meant for the railway transport and the solutions that the train offers to the more and more varied demands came from the French clients, as well as from the European ones for the daily, regional, international freight and passengers transport. Each of these shop-windows has offered information about the older or more recent achievements, emphasizing the progress that will be registered in the near future in point of technology, products and services.
11 of the shop-windows have belonged to SNCF (French Railways) which has presented in fact the results recorded along the time, from the beginnings, up to the latest ones, as well as the benefits that they bring to the passengers.
The end of the XX century has transformed Europe in a space where the train succeeded to integrate as a natural…element. The international trains have "winnowed" the borders, have enhanced the meetings, have accelerated the economical exchanges. Through its emissaries - Eurostar, Thalys, Elipsos, Artesia, Lyria -, SNCF has…reinvented the travel along and across the continent. And the Exposition from Paris reminds of a few of the most recent performances of the French Railways:
· Eurostar - crosses the distance London - Paris in two hours and 35 minutes;
· Thalys - helps all those willing to discover the towns Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne;
· With Elipsos anyone can travel from Madrid to Barcelona in a hotel train etc.,
A space called Forum has been created in order to allow to the public to assist to the meetings and debates that were aiming four large themes: Europe, technological innovations, regions and environment.
Large vehicle constructing companies have reminded to the visitor of the exhibition their last hour performances. Therefore, Siemens has presented Transexpress or the flying train, which crosses Shangai - Pudong route (30 km) in seven minutes and 30 seconds, and by all means, the famous Desiro (that could be also find, not for a long time now, in CFR endowment), which is one of the most spread products of this company, that could be found on the Great Britain networks and up to Malaysian networks!
Alstom, another well-known name in the field, is an old collaborator of SNCF, starting together the great adventure of TGV, developing a high-speed transport system that is still present in nine European countries and it is in full extension stage, including on other continents.
Another objective of the exhibition has been the presentation of the new model of railway station, defined as eurostation. Currently, in France and part of the European Union countries the railway stations have gained modern accents, have become spaces appropriate for developing the trade activities. Therefore, the railway stations have transformed in real attraction poles of the localities that are located, through their modern architecture, as well as through the technology used inside of it, in the benefit of the passengers that are passing by, and of the inhabitants of the towns that shelter them.
The research activity with respect to the security and safety in transport on the railways, as well as an environment protection line is very important in the railway sector. Among the subjects discussed within the Forum of the exhibition have been also included, among others, the ones related to the reduction of the noise resulted from the railway activity or the ones regarding the reduction of the pollution by using certain new types of energy.
The most important moment of this manifestation took place on June 1, when between Place de Concorde and Avenue George V, a famous route crossed only by the motorists and by pedestrians, on a specially assembled infrastructure in this respect, a train operated during…one night!
The promenade -exhibition, organized by SNCF in partnership with RFF and other great Companies as Alstom, Bombardier and Siemens, has recorded a real success, being visited by almost five million people, from the inhabitants of Paris and from other towns of France, to the tourists came from all over the world.

Ileana Statie